COMPETITION PROMPT
Use the phases of the moon to metaphorically or chronologically progress a narrative.
Phases (a lunar kind of love story)
new moon
you were a secret,
soft as breath before words.
we met in shadows,
not yet knowing the names for what stirred.
waxing crescent
you smiled like possibility,
and i mirrored it back,
we were becoming,
little by little- light filling in the cracks.
first quarter
half-lit hearts,
testing balance,
you held my hand like a question,
i answered by staying.
waxing gibbous
we grew bright with promise,
talked like the future was certain,
the kind of love that fills journals,
and makes the night shorten.
full moon
it was everything,
wide open,
nothing hidden, nothing spared,
our brightest hour,
i thought we’d never dim.
waning gibbous
but you began turning away,
slowly,
like the tide pulling back from the shore.
and i kept pretending
the light wasn’t fading.
last quarter
we were only half of what we used to be,
arguments echoed in silence,
you looked at me like
you didn’t remember how we got here.
waning crescent
i let you go in slivers
small losses, every day
until all that remained
was a memory too fragile to hold.
new moon
and now i begin again
in quiet
in darkness
planting something nameless
just beneath the skin
waiting for another light to grow.